


Do Not Let The World Harden You

by GreyJedi (SmokySky)



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Because The Canon Sucks, Ben Solo Lives, Coming In Pants, Dry Humping, F/M, Fingerfucking, Fix-It, Fluff and Smut, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT ABRAMS!, Not Canon Compliant, Vast Over-use of Tropes, and a fluffy ending, mainly smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 02:26:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22008433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmokySky/pseuds/GreyJedi
Summary: Palpatine is gone, defeated by Rey and Ben, and they're left standing in the remains of the Sith Temple.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48





	Do Not Let The World Harden You

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another fix-it fic for the end of _The Rise Of Skywalker_...because I hate the ending of that film, and I choose to forget that anything other than Ben and Rey living happily ever after ever happened.
> 
> Also known as _'Rey and Ben fight off Palpatine together, and the fuck afterwards because they love each other/adrenaline made them do it'_.
> 
> Enjoy.

Rey and Ben panted in the sudden silence: their heavy breathing the only sound in the now-empty arena.

Palpatine was gone. Destroyed. Dead - for good, this time.

They'd killed him...and now Rey didn't know what to do. She'd spent so long fighting the Dark Side: the First Order, Kylo Ren, Sheev Palpatine - and now there was no-one left to fight. The First Order had fallen, Palpatine was dead, and Kylo Ren had been replaced by Ben Solo: the man who had helped her rid the galaxy of it's biggest threat. Rey felt aimless, lost...dizzy. Not metaphorically dizzy: _literally_ dizzy, so much so she felt like she might be sick...

The world started spinning, and then Rey was being carefully lowered to the ground, Ben's arms supporting her until she was sitting on the ground, slumped forwards against Ben's shoulder. He had his eyes closed in concentration, with one hand resting on her cheek: the tips of his fingers just about reaching to brush against her temple. The dizziness had been replaced with a pounding headache, but Ben's warm hand on her cheek felt nice, so she leant into his hold. She saw Ben's lips quirk up briefly, before closing her eyes to enjoy the way the warmth radiated over her skin, easing the pounding inside her skull.

Leaving only guilt behind.

It had taken her so long. Too long. If she had found Palpatine faster, how many lives would she have saved? If she hadn't faltered when he was trying to convince her to join his side, then how many of her friends would still be alive? If Rey had just been better, then would she have avoided feeling so empty now she had nothing to focus on?

"Hey, what are you...why are you crying?" Ben asked, finally opening his eyes again to see tears streaming down her face, and using his thumb to gently wipe them away.

Rey leant back, using her forearms to swipe her cheeks clean: "I wasn't good enough."

Ben looked at her in confusion: "Palpatine is dead. The Knights of Ren, the Jedi killers, are gone. What's left of the First Order will crumble without leadership...all because of you and your friends. How can you think you're not good enough?"

"Because it took me too long!" Rey exploded, dry-eyed now and burning with anger at herself: "If I had trained harder, or listened to Luke's advice, or...or...or just _been better_ , then I could have stopped this before it got this far!"

"No, Rey. Don't ever change." Ben cupped her cheeks, dark eyes warm as they looked into hers: "You've been so strong - you've taken everything the universe has thrown at you, and you haven't let it make you hateful. You never gave into bitterness, or tried to harden your heart towards others."

Rey smiled bitterly: "It's a weakness."

"It's courage." Ben argued: "And I wish I could have had as much as you."

Rey was rendered speechless by Ben's soft words - and his even softer eyes. He so obviously meant it, was so obviously sincere, it made her throat close up and tears well in her eyes, but despite how much his words meant to her, she couldn't find anything to say in return...

...So she leant in and kissed him instead.

It was only meant to be a chaste kiss on the cheek - _a thank you, and nothing more_ \- but Ben had turned his head the split second before her lips touched his cheek, and instead Rey kissed him on the mouth. And once she'd started, she didn't want to stop. Neither did Ben.

His hands dropped to the sides of her neck: urging her closer as they simultaneously deepened the kiss. Rey couldn't help herself: she shifted to press herself closer to Ben, and he welcomed her into his lap: moaning low in his throat when she automatically ground herself down against the hardness she could feel pressing between her legs. She whimpered in response, grinding against him harder, the sensation making something low in her stomach clench. Ben felt good underneath her: warm and reassuring and interested, so, so interested.

And to top it all off, she could feel the way he felt about her through their bond.

She felt that he loved her.

And she couldn't help but love him in return.

"Ben..."

"It's okay...s'okay..." Ben panted, breath huffing against her neck as he jerked his hips up, like he couldn't help himself: "I can stop. I can stop, all you have to do is tell me..."

Rey shook her head, clenching a hand in his hair as he started kissing along her jaw: "I don't want you to stop. Please - " she squeaked when she felt his teeth brush against her neck: " - Don't stop."

Ben groaned, before suddenly rolling them so Rey was pinned underneath him. Back on Jakku, the sensation of another body on top of hers would have sent Rey into a panic, but here on Exegol...she dug her fingers into Ben's hair, and pulled him down to kiss her again.

It was rough and a little awkward, with their noses bouncing off each others and their teeth clacking, but Rey couldn't think past the warmth building in the pit of her stomach - especially when she felt Ben's hand slide under her leggings. He paused for a second, giving her a chance to move away, but when all she did was grind herself down against the heel of his palm, moaning as the warmth in her stomach heated up even further, he slid a finger inside her.

Rey moaned, dropping her head back against the floor. She'd done this herself a few times, but Ben's fingers were bigger, and had calluses that felt perfect inside her.

"This okay?" Ben asked against her neck, warm breath ghosting over the dampness left behind by his kisses and making Rey shiver.

Rey nodded, not quite able to find the words right now: "Uh-huh."

"Want me to carry on?"

"Yes!"

Soon Ben had added another finger, the stretch burning in the best way, before his thumb started to circle her clit. Rey was squirming and panting, feeling something start to twist and tighten in her stomach until all of a sudden everything whited out.

She came to clutching Ben's shirt, panting against his neck as he pressed gentle kisses against her forehead, temple, and hair, patiently waiting for her heart-rate to return to normal...all while she could feel him hot and hard against her thigh. Rey didn't wait for her heart to slow down - she rolled to face Ben and ran her hand down his chest. He didn't need any other encouragement.

Ben pulled her closer, slotting his hips between hers and starting to rut against her, burying his face in her neck and sinking his teeth into the skin as he bucked his hips into the vee of her thighs. Rey ground back against him, digging her nails into his back and whining as her stomach started to tighten again. She was close, so close, to coming - and she could feel the same anticipation on Ben's end of their Force bond. One more rough jerk of Ben's hips and they were both tumbling over the edge, Rey's vision whiting out even brighter than before.

Rey came too laying on Ben's chest, head tucked under his chin and his arms wrapped protectively around her in a way that made her feel safer than she had in a long, long time. It might be a little childish - _even Rey knew sex, or whatever they had just done, didn't equate to anything more than sex_ \- but there was something about Ben that just made her feel that way. She didn't want to think about it too much - she just snuggled closer and pressed a gentle kiss to where his collar bone was peeking out from under his shirt, trying to feed all the appreciated and love she felt for Ben through their bond. He needed to know how she felt about him.

"I do know." Ben murmured: "But thank you, anyway."

"When we get out of here..." Rey asked: "...will you come with me?"

Ben grinned broadly, the warm feeling of _acceptance_ and _being wanted_ evident on his face: "I'll follow you anywhere, if you want me to."

Rey grinned: "I want you to. I...I don't want to be alone anymore."

"You won't be." Ben promised, curling one of his hands around where one of hers was resting over his heart and holding it: "Never again, I promise you."

Rey believed him.

And even though she knew that there would be complications from her friends, Rey was overjoyed. She had felt so alone before now...but Ben could understand her better than anybody else in the galaxy. With Force bond, she knew he would always understand her without her ever having to struggle to explain herself like she did to Finn or Poe - and even without the bond, she had never felt like he judged her, despite their disagreement on just about everything. Ben would be worth every fight she would have for them - and she _would_ fight for him, just like he'd fought for her. Because she loved him.

"I know." Ben smiled: "I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> So...I hated the end of TRoS _(seriously, Abrams, what the fuck?!)_ and after seeing it I _really_ just wanted to read some smut between Ben and Rey which was a mixture of 'thank-fuck-we're-alive-fucking' and 'I-love-you-so-much-sex'...and since I couldn't find any, I decided to write some myself. I don't often write smut, so I'm not really sure how happy I am with it: meaning any comments or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.  
>    
> 
> 
> Also, if you guys have read any fics with the aforementioned combination of tropes, don't hesitate to leave a comment about them below; I'd love to read them!


End file.
